kdubracing

My favorites are 6th Sense Crush 50, Flat 75, and the Lucky Craft 1.5. KVD 1.5 is close behind those.

I have the 6’10 MH Tatula and absolutely love it. I’ve throw everything from frogs to weightless t-rig Senko to jerkbaits to flipping beavers/jigs and haven’t felt like it’s out of place at all.

I like the Berkley X5 on my spinning reels. I use the Jordan Lee because I like the hi-vis.

I'll second this. I like the Fusion as well, good hook at a good price.

Off topic, but I’m just curious. Why not just use it until it breaks? If you love the rod, you may as well use it as much as possible rather than put it on a shelf and never use it again.

Oh, I’m fine with it as well. I just want quality in manufacturing. The point of the post is trying to find out who the manufacturers actually are for proprietary branded items. This helps make a more informed decision on whether you want to purchase the item or not.

I have a Diawa Legalis (and a BPS Carbonline 2.0 spinning that I'm pretty sure is a Daiwa Revros exact model) that were both made in Vietnam. So Daiwa either has a factory in Vietnam also, or they outsource some of their reels as well. In this day and age with profit margin and low cost driving everything, the lines are a lot more blurred than they used to be. This is another way that makes it confusing. Again, I'm not sure of the details, but Abu may also have their own low profile designs, just don't own the factory and make it themselves. In my experience, usually with the lower price point products, companies will just slap their name on an existing design. With higher price point products, they may or may not provide the factory with their own design, materials to use, tolerances, etc.

He is confusing Lews being a manufacturer. They are both probably made in the same Doyo factory. They may be the same exact reel or may just be very similar. It depends on how BPS and Lew’s contracts are set up with the factory for those models, whether they have exclusive access to that exact design or not.

A lot of this will depend on who owns the factory/what they manufacture. For instance, in the case of Doyo, the factory(ies) those are made, this is likely the case. That factory manufactures many different models of reels for many different brands. The factory may be owned by Doyo, and they only manufacture their own reels. Or it may be owned by some random company and they manufacture Doyo, and others. In this case, most likely, BPS (as an example) will go to that factory and mix/match components and raw materials to get what they want. This would make their reel unique and fit a price point they want to target. They would supply the factory with the specs they want to achieve using existing components from the factory's existing catalog. This would also eliminate the need to purchase tooling to make custom reels/components. The majority of the time, a proprietary brand will avoid buying tooling at all costs. That is where things get expensive. Now, take as an example, Daiwa. I don't know this to be true, just using an example. If Daiwa owns their own factories that only manufacture their own products, BPS would most likely strike a deal with Daiwa to use their existing product exactly like it is. They would change the color/stickers/etc. to make it a BPS branded item. But it is the exact same product. This would eliminate the cost of new tooling for custom parts, sourcing different raw materials, etc. It would just be a different color paint and some new boxes, which Daiwa wouldn't produce anyway. There are several different ways a proprietary brand would go about it, but it could result in a rebranded exact product. It could also result in a mix/match situation with components. But most likely, they will avoid purchasing new tooling one way or the other. If they want to explore the high end price points, that's when they may go all in with their own custom designs.

I don’t know who makes what in the fishing industry. But I used to work for a company in the motorcycle industry that owned several proprietary brands exactly like OP is talking about. I knew who manufactured all the items, and it made a big difference in what items I considered quality and what I didn’t. Some of the items were made in the same factory in China that made a lot of other brands, while others were made by quality manufacturers that just rebranded a good product. It is helpful information to know. I did buy a BPS spinning reel recently for the wife, and it is for sure a rebranded Daiwa. I have a Legalis as well, and it’s identical except for the color and handle. I think it may be a Revros, but I haven’t inspected close enough to determine.

Similar to some others, I use a ML/F or M/F spinning set up for wacky rig (or neko, anything with exposed hook). I use a MH/F baitcaster for weightless t-rig. I prefer the baitcasting set up for setting the buried hook.

Please give your feedback when you get a chance to fish it. The other dilemma I have is glass or graphite. That’s kind of my thinking. I am partial to the Tatula also, but to me a cranking rod is an opportunity to save a few bucks without sacrificing too much. I understand the benefits of sensitivity in a cranking rod, but also feel like you can sacrifice some sensitivity as long as you’re still getting a quality rod. I know how good the Tatula would be but have no experience with the XT. That being said, what are opinions on glass vs. graphite in these series’

For cranking, do you think it’s worth the extra money to jump from the XT to the Tatula? If so, why. Just curious. I have a Tatula and love it, and will be getting a cranking rod soon. Just wondering how much better it would be for cranking. I don’t have an XT to compare.

I’m about the same size as you and have this exact kayak. I don’t have any stability problems with it. We also have an Ascend 10t that has a 325 lb weight limit and it fills with water with me or my 200 lb son in it with nothing else. I take a crate on the back with 3 3600 boxes and 3 gallon ziplock bags full of soft plastics, a 1.5 lb anchor, a Garmin Striker 4 on this kayak and have no problems. It’s pretty stable. Initially I tried to pay attention setting the hook, but I haven’t almost tipped at all. I don’t even think about it anymore. Enjoy, you’ll have a blast.

I have that, only in my pinky. In high school, I partially tore the tendon and it would slip into the joint and pop like you describe. I had surgery and that fixed it. I’ve been fishing a lot this year, and I hold my spinning rod between my ring and pinky fingers. It’s doing the same thing again, so I think that tendon is messed up again. May be what you did also.

I got my first 6th Sense swim jig last weekend. I proceeded to catch 12 fish on the swim jig and never even had to adjust the trailer, much less replace it. I was immediately sold on the screw lock keeper.

I would be more worried about the warranty if it were a $300 rod.

Yeah, but I paid $120 for the rod and a warranty will cost me $50 anyway. If I spend $50 to send this in to Daiwa to fix one guide, then have a warranty issue where I have to send it in again, that’s almost the cost of another rod anyway.

I was way off. It is actually the 5th guide from the top. I’m going to take it in to the local shop. They “have a guy” that fixes rods. Daiwa wants me to send it in.

I was looking to go this route, but google doesn’t show any rod repair anywhere near me. I have one local shop that I’m not too fond of, but don’t think they repair rods anyway. I know replacing a guide isn’t too difficult, just don’t know where to go.

I have a Daiwa Tatula 6'10 MHF and one of the guides broke yesterday. Not sure how it happened. It's the 3rd or 4th one from the top. I'll look next time I'm in the garage. Anyway, what will it hurt to use this for the rest of the season before I send it in to Daiwa for warranty? I've only had it since Feb and it has a 5 year warranty. It's my main baitcasting rod and I don't want to be without one for the next couple of months. I put some electrical tape over the piece that is still on the rod so it won't hurt the line. I fished with it yesterday and caught a couple of 12-15" fish on it, but nothing big. I don't catch many over 2-2.5 lbs anyway. All of the other guides appear fine, will I be good for a couple of months?

I’ve been using them a lot lately as swim jig or regular jig trailers. Most of the time I cut the top section off, just barely leaving the first set of legs on. About 1/2” is why is cut off. That seems to make a perfect profile on the jigs. Had a lot of good luck lately with green pumpkin magic color.

I just bought a few of the 3/8 tungsten pitching jigs and have been killing with them. They are a great smaller profile but not finesse jig small. Caught a 3lb this past weekend on it, which is pretty solid on the lake I was fishing. I have some brush jigs as well but haven’t used them much yet. It’s been hard for me to take the tungsten pitching jig off.

I have a Legalis and I love it. Got it for like $60 on Amazon this past winter.

I’ve been liking Zoom UV Speed Craws as swim jig and jig trailers. I usually cut the top section right above the first set of legs of to make a smaller profile.